MEXICO CITY – Archaeologists announced Wednesday they have discovered a massive sixth-century Indian pyramid beneath a centuries-old Catholic religious site.
Built on a hillside by the mysterious Teotihuacan culture, the pyramid was abandoned almost 1,000 years before Christians began re-enacting the Crucifixion there in the 1800s.
“When they first saw us digging there, the local people just couldn’t believe there was a pyramid,” said archaeologist Jesus Sanchez. “It was only when the slopes and shapes of the pyramid, the floors with altars were found, that the finally believed us.”
“Both the pre-Hispanic structure and the Holy Week rituals are part of our cultural legacy, so we have to look for a way to protect both cultural values,” said Sanchez, who, along with archaeologist Miriam Advincula, has been exploring the site since 2004.
The people of Iztapalapa – now a low-income neighborhood – began re-enacting the Passion of Christ in 1833 to give thanks for divine protection during a cholera epidemic.
During the ritual, which draws as many as a million spectators every year, a wooden cross is raised just a few yards from the buried remains of the Teotihuacan temple, and a man chosen to portray Christ is tied to the cross.
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